1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ovens. More particularly, the present invention relates to ovens used during equipment testing.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In general, a personal computer includes peripheral storage devices, such as hard disk drives, floppy disk drives and/or CD-ROM drives. Each peripheral storage device is tested in an oven under predetermined circumstances called "aging." The testing ovens typically accommodate a plurality of closely-packed peripheral storage devices. The ovens include a hot air blower and a cold air blower. The hot air blower typically is composed of a heater and a blower which maintain a uniform preset temperature inside the oven.
Exemplars of the prior art include the patent to Ebihara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,733, entitled Burn-In Apparatus, describes a burn-in board having an interior section path into which hot air is drown, and a plurality of protrusions for maintaining a semiconductor device.
The patent to Magnuson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,155, entitled Environmentally Controlled Media Defect Detection System For Winchester Disk Drives, describes a main chamber with an upper chamber and a lower chamber. The upper chamber has an intake fan. A duct dries air from the upper chamber and delivers the air via a discharge vent into the aging chamber. The lower chamber is include communication with the main chamber via a gestate.
The patent to Hamilton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,235, entitled Temperature Regulator For Burn-In Board Components, describes a plurality of burn-in board and a blower which forces the gas to flow through nozzles.
The patent to Twigg et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,068, entitled Electronic Device Test Handler, describes a tray which receive a plurality of electronic components. Referring to FIG. 5, a group of trays maintained to vertical beams 70a and 70b as shown in FIG. 1, are introduced into an aging chamber at back of the device.
The patent to Fuoco, U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,168, entitled Stress Testing Equipment With An Integral Cooling Plenum, describes a carrier on which components are mounted prior to introduction of the carrier into an oven. Referring to FIG. 1, the devices divided into three sections: a high temperature section 4, a moderate temperature section 6 and a ambient temperature section 8.
I have found that when a plurality of peripheral storage devices are closely packed in the oven, it is difficult to maintain the oven temperature accurately. When the oven temperature is not distributed uniformly, peripheral storage device testing is not reliable from device to device.